Samson & Delilah

7.4/10 Dropps

Genre: Romance, Art House & International, Drama
Rated: Unrated
Running Time: 1 hr. 41 min.
In Theaters: Oct 15, 2010 Limited
Directed By: Warwick Thornton
Written By: Warwick Thornton

SAMSON AND DELILAH is not an average love story. It’s not an average tale of boy meets girl, and it’s not a typical film by today’s Hollywood standards.

Filmed in central Australia, SAMSON AND DELILAH follows a pair of mismatched young Aborigines living in a very small village in the desolate Outback. After a tragedy befalls Delilah and her family, the pair take off on adventure leading them away from the only home they have ever known. Homeless, and lost in an unknown city, the pair learns what it means to rely on one another in a roundabout way, taking them on a journey, which teeters on the brink of death and self-destruction.

There are a lot of aspects that make SAMSON AND DELILAH an interesting piece of filmmaking. One of the biggest aspects that is creating a lot of buzz with this Australian gem is the inclusion of cultural aspects of young Aboriginals that truly plague teens all over Australia. The unfortunate part about this films release in the states (October 15th, LIMITED) is that most Americans won’t catch the undertones this film is riddled with. Huffing, the inhaling of chemicals for a hallucinogenic effect is a big problem for Aboriginal youths. This being a large role in SAMSON AND DELILAH and being a relatively unknown problem to those in the states, the cinematical weight of this problem could easily be lost on the common viewer.

Another interesting factor that will play a large role in how this film does in the states is the use (or lack there of), of dialogue. For a movie running a little over an hour and a half, writer/ director Warick Thornton made an interesting choice in his decision to focus his film on action rather than dialogue. That being said, Thornton created a film that focuses on raw emotion, and great performances from his actors. With essentially no dialogue exchange between our two main characters (One who only speaks a single line throughout the film), Samson (Rowan McNamara) and Delilah (Marrisa Gibson), you know you’ve just watched a good film when you feel invested in the characters who rarely speak.

The film plays heavy on ideas of Australian culture and current troubles that plague Australian natives and shines in its achievement. It’s not going to be for everyone due to themes that will go over many viewers’ heads and the fact that the film can be slow at moments due to the lack of dialogue, but that doesn’t mean SAMSON AND DELILAH isn’t a great film in its own right.

-Hunter Freiburg